# Driving



## Clover (Jul 27, 2008)

So I got my driver's permit last Friday. (With a seventy on the test ._.;) Dad took me out to a parking lot to get the feel of it first. I didn't crash, but didn't go above twenty miles an hour. x3 I thought 'okay, this isn't too bad'... but then he had me drive home from the grocery store. God, I was scared stiff. x3; Then yesterday I drove home after dark! I'm still getting used to it, but it's really kind of fun in a rollercoaster-aaaa-let's-do-it-again sort of way.

Anyway. I know most of you are too young to drive - especially in Europe; 18 minimum age? Geez! - but how do you think driving will be? Do you have stories of older siblings going crazy on the road, or have you already tried without a license? (shame on you :P) To those who already drive, how did you feel the first week or two? Where do you like to go? What's the farthest/fastest you've gone? and so forth.


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## Jolty (Jul 27, 2008)

17 is minimum age here (NEXT YEAR FUCK YES)

And since neither of my parents can drive, I want to learn so I can rub it in their faces. 
and uh furthest I've ever /been/ driven is to Devon. With 2 siblings and 2 step siblings. NOT FUN, NOT FUN AT ALL.


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## Timmy (Jul 27, 2008)

I can't wait untill I can drive. ;-;

I think the furthest I've ever been driven to is Belgium, idk the name of the place where we stayed but it was from London -> there. Painful. Car rides with my brother always are. :(


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## Vladimir Putin's LJ (Jul 27, 2008)

MidnightSaboteur said:


> I know most of you are too young to drive - especially in Europe; 18 minimum age?


YEah but when we do get to 18 it's like a whole pack of things we can legally do at once, including drinking while you gys ahve to wait till your 21 :v Never got that, you can get married at sixteen, have sex at eighteen but only drink when you're twenty-one.

Anyway I've driven in my dad's car before in an empty parking lot and I did pretty well but other than that I have nothing to contribute.


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## spaekle (Jul 27, 2008)

I'm already old enough to get a permit and I guess I can go take the test whenever I want (apparently it's piss-easy stuff?) but I haven't done it yet. 

My dad let me drive around a parking lot even though I didn't have a permit; I guess it's something I could get the hang of, but I'm a complete dumbass and I'm probably going to end up dying in some sort of terrible accident. D: My friends openly admit that they would not feel safe in a car with me behind the wheel. xD;


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## Zora of Termina (Jul 27, 2008)

I'll be of legal age to get a license next month. Yay birthday.

My mom doesn't want to pay for my lessons, but I'ma force her to do it one way or another. But y'know, Illinois has all these retarded student driver laws now and I'm not sure I wanna do it now. >>


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## Clover (Jul 27, 2008)

Zora of Termina said:


> My mom doesn't want to pay for my lessons, but I'ma force her to do it one way or another.


Yeah, classroom-based driver's ed can be up to like 300$, but parent-taught is only twenty (over here at least). And the license itself is just twenty-four.


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## spaekle (Jul 27, 2008)

You can take Driver's Ed as a class at my school. I'm taking it my second semester of this coming year. Apparently the teacher's never there and the class kind of sucks,  but my dad's making me take it because you get some kind of price cut on insurance.


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## opaltiger (Jul 27, 2008)

eighteen what

permit is at sixteen here (I'm not sure if they're the same, though; here it means you can drive as long as there's someone with a license with you, presumable to wrestle control away from you if you are driving off a cliff). I intend to get mine as soon as possible (I am sixteen in two weeks).


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## Dewgong (Jul 27, 2008)

I've driven many things before out in Idaho, including a truck, so I think I'll be fine.

I've never crashed anything. :]


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## Storm Earth and Fire (Jul 27, 2008)

It's 16 here, permit at 15, I think, and hardship at 15. But I believe Texas is going to move it up to 18 soon. Whatever, I've already got my licence. 

As far as starting out, it was weird at first, but I got the hang of it rather quickly. Fastest I've gone? 85 mph (137~ km/h), on the toll roads here in Austin that over two-thirds of the city despise. Brilliant for driving fast, and ideal for street races. Not that I race, my car is too crappy. :p Furthest I've gone? Houston and back, about halfway across the state.



			
				Vladimir Putin's LJ said:
			
		

> Never got that, you can get married at sixteen, have sex at eighteen but only drink when you're twenty-one.


Age of consent varies from 16-18 by state. And another thing about turning 18 is eligibility for the armed forces (!) and requirement to sign up for Selective Service (!!). You can probably understand why many want it lowered to 18 here.


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## Wilcox (Jul 27, 2008)

I got my license back in March, on my birthday.
I don't quite know how you managed only a 70 on the driving test, but whatever. :P

Driving isn't bad at all. Yeah, it takes a little bit to get the hang of it, but you get it down fairly well after a little bit, especially by the time you get your license.

As for Texas upping the driving age, I think that it hasn't actually been passed yet because there are so many people that just simply rely on their kids being able to drive themselves places. I know my parents do.

Also drinking age should DEFINITELY be lowered to 18. 21 is just dumb. *cough*

Fastest I've gone? I don't know, but it definitely wasn't legal. Furthest I've gone? Only like halfway across Houston (and back, of course). link008's got me beat right there. :P


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## cheesecake (Jul 27, 2008)

I can't drive yet (I'm only 12 ;-;) but I know I'm gonna be a nervous wreak when I drive for the first time. I'll be surprised if I don't kill anyone in drivers ed in high school. >.>


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## Storm Earth and Fire (Jul 28, 2008)

Bah, my friend was 10 when he first drove. Mind you, that was in Mexico, but well, it's an idea. :D


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## Arylett Charnoa (Jul 28, 2008)

Have my permit. Took and failed the license test two times. Such... an... idiot... ;;Hits head on desk several times;;

I am so ashamed. I don't even want to think about driving. Next time I take the test, I have to go to the freaking DMV, because they fired the Driver's Ed teacher and now there is no more Driver's Ed at school. I suck. My friend's ahead of me and I've been driving longer than her! She PASSED. (Grah, so jeal- I mean, I'm so happy for her.) I need to freaking pass and my mom needs to take me to practice, whether she's too "tired" or not. (And really, how much effort does it take to sit in a passenger's seat and watch somebody drive? She's just afraid that I'll crash the car, does not trust me at all. I'm decent at everything, except parking. Dammit. Sorry guys, I'm just angry and venting.)

Now about driving stories. One time, my sister was driving 70 miles on a highway. And she hit a racoon, which she didn't see before it was too late. It made this huge dent in her car. (Which she doesn't have money to fix, so it's still there.) Poor thing, it died of course.


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## Zora of Termina (Jul 28, 2008)

MidnightSaboteur said:


> Yeah, classroom-based driver's ed can be up to like 300$, but parent-taught is only twenty (over here at least). And the license itself is just twenty-four.


Yeeeeaaah, see, Mom's just too scared to teach me herself, considering I've never had any experience. And the fact that in all those arcade racing games I've always destroyed everything in sight but that's nothing to go by because I was five, my legs were too short to reach the pedals so I had to stand on them and, well, I was five. >>

Maybe I can get Dad to do it.


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## spaekle (Jul 28, 2008)

Urgh, I fail at those racing games. Last one I remember playing, I went through a pasture, ran over a couple dozen sheep, and then went over a cliff in flames. :D;

But I guess another thing about those games is that you're going a lot faster than you would in a normal car, which is mostly where the challenge and the game comes from. At least I hope driving a real car is easier. o_o


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## Storm Earth and Fire (Jul 28, 2008)

Depends on the game you're playing. I personally love racing games, but of course real-life is never the same. (except for Forza and Forza 2, those games are as realistic as they are made out to be) Driving takes more attentiveness for obvious reasons, amoung other things that potentially make it more challenging.

There's always a big difference between 40 and 135, of course. :p


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## King Clam (Jul 28, 2008)

I have my permit but I think I'll just wait until I'm 18 and take my roadtest because it's cheaper. Driving is really easy, though. Just remember that everyone else on the road will make every possible mistake and you must do all in your power to avoid them. Also, speed limits are for chumps.

Sidenote, the more safety features that are added to cars, the less careful drivers become, and the more accidents happen. My idea is to place a very sharp spear in the middle of the steering wheel, increasing the chance of an accident being fatal to 100%. You'll see people start to drive real carefully after a day or two.


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## Wilcox (Jul 28, 2008)

MidnightSaboteur said:


> Yeah, classroom-based driver's ed can be up to like 300$, but parent-taught is only twenty (over here at least). And the license itself is just twenty-four.


Note that your insurance will cost more if you don't take it in a classroom. And insurance is a bitch as it is, so imo you should try to get as much deducted from the amount you have to pay as possible.


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## Kaito (Jul 29, 2008)

KAITO CAN DRIVE OH YEAH.

Yeah I got my G2, which essentially means that I can drive a car alone, but not on 400 series highways, past a certain time in the day, and with no alcohol in my bloodstream. Which is all fine and dandy, seeing as I don't drink. :B Also, I can drive with [however many seat belts there are in the car] people. This only applies after six months though. I think. I'VE FORGOTTEN NOW. 

My roadtest wasn't so great though. The examiner heaved a heavy sigh the second I parked. Probably because I almost hit a bus merging onto a one way street. :(


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## goldenquagsire (Jul 29, 2008)

I must admit that driving has never really held much allure to me. In recent months, I've become a sort of terminal worrier every time I get into a car - I always have the constant fear that we'll crash and I'll end up with a chunk of metal through my head. Obviously, this is not conducive to becoming a good driver. Furthermore, public transportation in Britain generally allows one to live without a car provided that one plans ahead a little. Thus, I have no plans to become a car owner; apparently, though, one should take the test anyway.

I'm going to be such a boring adult. D:

Hm. Longest drive without a stop of more than a few hours was probably London to some part of Holland that I can't quite remember exactly. However, if one allows for an evening's stop, then the longest would be London via Cologne to the Black Forest. Fastest I've ever been driven in would likely be somewhere on the Autobahn, where there's no speed limit.


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## Dannichu (Jul 29, 2008)

I'm a hopeless driver. I got my provisional licence when I was 17, and I'm nearly 19 now and haven't passed (not that I've taken the test yet, but if I had I'd have failed - most mock tests I take, I fail about 5 times). I've passed my theory, though. That was pretty easy. 

I normally drive a Citroen C4 (my dad's car) or a Vauxhall Corsa during my lessons, though I've also driven Micras, Minis and, uh, other things I can't remember. 

My least favourite bit of driving is changing lanes on dual carriageways, overtaking cyclists and driving along stupid roads that have cars parked on both sides so only one car can fit through and you have to drive at, like, 5 miles an hour.


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## Ramsie (Jul 31, 2008)

I'm old enough to get my permit, but I'm just to lazy to actually get it. I don't particularly want to take Driver's Ed because, even though it's free here, I'd have to take it during the summer, which I'd really rather not do.  I probably won't get it until I'm 17 maybe 18.


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## surskitty (Jul 31, 2008)

can't drive legally as I am a lazy bum but I know how to?  eh well I'll try getting a permit sometime when I am less lazy


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## Zhorken (Jul 31, 2008)

I _could_ go get a learner's permit and then put the effort in to get a license if I wanted, but I... don't.  8)

It's sixteen to get a license and eighteen to get a full license here, afaik.  I don't know exactly how it works; I'm pretty sure you're not allowed on the more major highways until eighteen, though.


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## Stormecho (Jul 31, 2008)

I don't want to learn. >< I'm so absentminded, you can bet all the money you have on me forgetting to lock it, or getting the car stolen, or crashing into something, and win. I seriously will let my thoughts wander, look back and go, "Oh hey, I passed a red light..." I am not the sort of person you'd want driving a car. :P Oh, and I'm too young by a year. 

I am going to learn how to ride a horse though. =D


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## Erika (Jul 31, 2008)

I got my permit when I was fifteen. I never used it, and never had to the will to learn how to drive in the first place. My dad was urging me to get my permit, so I did. Once I got it, we only went driving once or twice. The permit expired a year later. I'm nineteen now, turn twenty in December, and I still don't have the drive to learn how to drive. I'm afraid for the most part, the decisions you have to make while driving just feel too much for me. The amount of responsibility scares me as well. I'm just not comfortable at all. 

First thing friends ask when they call me is if I have a license yet, and my parents and brother, are constantly nagging me to get it as well. I try not to let it bother me, but meh. I just don't want to drive. I kind of like waiting to get picked up, I kind of like being in the passenger seat. *shrugs*


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## Valor (Jul 31, 2008)

I've had my license since I was 15 (Granted, 15 year olds can only hold a restricted at best (Driving times of 6 AM to 10 PM)), and my learner's permit I got when I was 14. I did fail my license test once (Drove 45 in a 30 MPH zone, whoops), but passed the next, even though I could have failed again if the yellow light I drove through turned red. I have tons of night driving experience so I'm pretty comfortable driving in any condition.


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